CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal on Monday transferred the "FQL cryptocurrency scam" case to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW).
According to an official communication from the police headquarters, a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) -cum-Cryptocurrency trading fraud operating under the names "FQL Investment Trading", "FQL Exchange App" and "VG Investment Group Syndicate" has come to light across Madurai, Virudhunagar, Dindigul and Sivaganga districts over the past seven months.
Agents associated with the scheme are alleged to have induced members of the public to invest money by promising abnormally high daily rewards and falsely representing that the investments could be doubled within 40–45 days through cryptocurrency trading.
Complaints have been received from victims across the four districts. Based on information regarding the functioning of the scheme, six cases have been registered so far -- 3 in Madurai district, one each in Dindigul, Virudhunagar and Sivaganga districts, and so far, 17 accused have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody, and 13 bank accounts linked to the accused have been frozen as part of the investigation.
"Prima facie investigation indicates that local agents induced the public to invest in purported cryptocurrency trading through cash and G-Pay/UPI transactions, with part of the funds allegedly converted into Tether (USDT) and credited to FQL/VG wallets. Subsequently, withdrawals reportedly failed, balances became inaccessible, and additional payments were demanded. The application was later shut down, leaving investors unable to access their purported balances, " an official release stated.
Considering the role of each accused, the extent of the network, the inter-district nature of the alleged fraud, the large number of victims, the reported financial loss, the involvement of cryptocurrency transactions including USDT, Binance wallets and the suspected international linkages, to ensure systematic, in-depth investigation, the DGP ordered transfer of all 6 cases to EOW.